Housing expense vs transportation expense way out of wack?

[variable_x]

Based on 2011 Alberta statistics,

http://www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tabl...il130j-eng.htm

the average household spent 18,300 a year, (~$1525 / month) for housing while they spent 13,465 a year, (~1120 / month) on transportation.

Is it me, or this just seems absurd! Factoring that housing includes property taxes, utilities and mortgage payments, it seems like everyone either has their house paid off or is living in a condo, while driving BMWs.

Just wondering what everyone else thinks about this ratio, spending (~73% of housing on cars).

[msommers]

Calgary Transit sucks.

Lots of people work out of town and could be a contributor.

[BigMass]

seems easy if you factor in parking (downtown $20-$40/day), car, car insurance, car maintenance, gas, etc.

[Sugarphreak]

...

[variable_x]

I can understand the transportation cost if a family owns 2 vehicles, but the overall housing cost seems very low to me. I would imagine if a family can afford to spend $1100 a month on cars, they would have a house that costs more than $1500 a month to upkeep.

I just can't grasp the fact that we are spending 73% of housing cost on a depreciating asset. Shouldn't we want to put more of our money in a house? I would either invest more in a house or spend less on a vehicle.

I would think < 50% ratio would be the norm. Personally I would like to keep it < 30%, which means that if you are spending 33% of your income on housing, you spend 10% on cars. With a 73% ratio, it means that we are spending 33% of income on housing and 25% on transportation!

[Sugarphreak]

...

[schocker]

What is shelter vs Principal Accommodation?
Does seem like a lot on transportation though

[benyl]

There is more to transportation that going to work and back. People with kids make multiple trips per day.

Averages aren't really meaningful.

You have executives with $2K / month leases that skew the results.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

I spend on average $1415 a month on my car before taking depreciation into account per month. That includes payment, insurance, gas, modifications and maintenance. That's based off driving 35000km a year in my car currently.

I will be spending on average $1600 a month for my townhome, including mortgage payments, condo fees, gas/electricity/water and cable.

There's so many variables to this I don't think just saying averages shows the whole picture.

[flipstah]

Originally posted by Twin_Cam_Turbo
I spend on average $1415 a month on my car before taking depreciation into account per month. That includes payment, insurance, gas, modifications and maintenance. That's based off driving 35000km a year in my car currently.

I will be spending on average $1600 a month for my townhome, including mortgage payments, condo fees, gas/electricity/water and cable.

There's so many variables to this I don't think just saying averages shows the whole picture.

That's a cheap mortgage.

[Twin_Cam_Turbo]

Originally posted by flipstah


That's a cheap mortgage.

Yeah I saved for a couple years so I could put a nice chunk down and keep the payments low. I'm also expecting $500-600 a month towards that from my renter.

[Manhattan]

Those numbers sound about right if you're talking averages assuming you have 2 cars in your household. $300 to insure both cars, $300 for gas, some maintenance costs tossed in, parking or $180 for 2 transit passes if you work downtown, and that's before depreciation which is typically the most expensive part of car ownership. You've easily hit that average.

That's a huge chunk of incomes spent on just getting to work and a waste of time and money. Live close to work if you can afford it. You can almost get a 2nd mortage with the savings in commute time and costs and not to mention you don't have to deal with commuting in traffic or waiting for a bus that never comes in -30 conditions half of the year.

[variable_x]

Originally posted by flipstah


That's a cheap mortgage.

That's more than the average mortgage in Alberta according to statistics, which is $1525 / month including property tax and utilities.

[botox]

Numbers seem about right. We are a family of 4 (me, wife, two kids grades 6 and 4), a van and SUV both by no means are fuel efficient vehicles which plays a big part when we have to drive the kids to their weekly activities. We both also buy monthly bus passes and drive to the bus station.

[mrsingh]

Originally posted by variable_x


That's more than the average mortgage in Alberta according to statistics, which is $1525 / month including property tax and utilities.

I wish my mortgage was this cheap! Working on it now, lump sum payments for the win!

[variable_x]

Originally posted by botox
Numbers seem about right. We are a family of 4 (me, wife, two kids grades 6 and 4), a van and SUV both by no means are fuel efficient vehicles which plays a big part when we have to drive the kids to their weekly activities. We both also buy monthly bus passes and drive to the bus station.

So your mortgage is also that small? My mortgage is WAY higher than the average, which is ~$1100 / month if you subtract monthly utilities and property tax.

[variable_x]

Originally posted by variable_x


So your mortgage is also that small? My mortgage is WAY higher than the average, the average being ~$1100 / month if you subtract monthly utilities and property tax.

[Tik-Tok]

Originally posted by variable_x


That's more than the average mortgage in Alberta according to statistics, which is $1525 / month including property tax and utilities.

Don't forget, the "average" is including people who bought a house 20 years ago for $150g, and still have a mortgage going.

[msommers]

I'm curious about what the average for first-time-home-owners mortgages is in the last 5 years.

All-in for mortgage, insurance, potential condo fees, utilities I'm thinking it's around $2000/month.

[mrsingh]

I bought my first house in 2009, and my current in the beginning of 2011. Definitely no $150,000 home for me totally missed that boat.

My mortgage payment alone is ~$2000 a month.